Take Val Wykoff, the central character in my first two mysteries. Val is a garden designer.
In her own gardens she goes for easy care and a natural look - many native plants, no prima donnas, interesting combinations
of foliage rather than big splashes of colorful flowers.

Finding the body of an openly disliked colleague
in her front yard bodes to disrupt Val's immediate planting season schedule, not to mention torpedo her professional and personal
future, unless she finds out who was responsible for the murder and why. Convincing him that this is where the answers
lie, she enlists the reluctant county sheriff, Baxter Dye, in a clandestine after-dark visit to a major area landscaping project.
The stakes are too high for their exploration to go undetected, and the response could prove lethal.

Summerkill is a delightful
romp down the garden path, or--frantic escape down the fairway, or--soak in Mariah’s spa, all with intricately landscaped
settings. The well developed characters are colorful and distinctive. Once rooted into the tangled plot, it’s hard to
put the book down, even to water the plants.